


Don't Stick to the Status Quo

by jinglebin



Category: High School Musical (Movies), SKAM (TV)
Genre: High School Musical AU, M/M, Multi, Sexuality Crisis, Skamfiction Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-15 14:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13032873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinglebin/pseuds/jinglebin
Summary: The Skam crowd gets thrown into High School Musical. Don't assume that means you know what will happen.





	Don't Stick to the Status Quo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EvensDramaticShenanigans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvensDramaticShenanigans/gifts).



> You're going to be very confused when you start reading this. Bear with me. I changed things up a lot. I hope you like it anyway. x
> 
> I'm also aware there's already a HSM AU out there. I found out after I already started this story and I figured mine was sufficiently different to keep writing it.

Isak hates being here. He hates being in this stupid hotel. He hates being here with his dad. He hates that he’s being forced to go to a _young adult party,_ while his dad schmoozes his business partners. He’s cursing himself that he didn’t bring his 3DS on this trip so he could’ve at least played some FIFA or something. Isak could play games on his phone of course, but that would make him run out of battery quicker, and then he’d really have nothing to distract him during this evening.

It’s not like Isak would have had more exciting plans if he’d been able to stay home with his mom. He wouldn’t. He doesn’t really have friends at his school. But he could’ve at least counted down to the new year with his mother instead of being forced into the company of a bunch of strangers. He wishes he could’ve been with his mother, because she hasn’t been doing well and he hates being away from her.

There’s karaoke going on too. Isak has to admit he does enjoy singing, but he’s not about to make a fool of himself in front of a hundred strangers if he can help it. He’s considering getting a soda and stationing himself near a snack bowl for the rest of the night. While he’s pondering this option, the song ends, and Isak applauds politely with the rest of the crowd.

A beam of light start dancing around his vision and it’s quite disorientating. It stills, illuminating a girl with long red hair, who is sitting on a bench in a corner, reading a book. For a second Isak envies the girl for being smart enough to bring a book. Then he sees her being ushered towards the stage. Isak’s heart starts hammering in his chest. He hadn’t been here long enough to notice that’s how they picked people for karaoke. The poor girl looks like a deer caught in headlights, but she doesn’t put up any resistance.

The lightbeam starts moving around again and Isak can’t say he’s surprised when it lands on him. This night seems to be doing its best to make him as uncomfortable as possible. There’s some hands pushing him towards the stage, and Isak lets them. He figures the quickest and least painful way to get out of this is to go along with it. He can hide in a corner when it’s over.

He steps onto the stage next to the girl, who gives him a small, forced smile. She looks so nervous, Isak feels sorry for her. The music starts, and he at least knows this song. He still has to try not to roll his eyes at being forced to sing a romantic duet with a girl.

 _“Living in my own world. Didn't understand,”_ Isak starts singing, his voice is a little rough, _“that anything can happen, when you take a chance.”_

Isak looks over at the girl, she’s got her arms wrapped around herself and looks like she’s about to flee. Isak’s about to give it up as a lost cause, thinking this will be over quicker than he hoped, when she starts singing.

_“I never believed in what I couldn't see, I never opened my heart to all the possibilities.”_

She sounds really good; Isak joins in for the next part, and to his relief the girl relaxes besides him. Isak loosens up a little too, and he kind of starts getting into it. He forgets that a bunch of strangers are watching him sing.

The girl next to him starts enjoying it too. She’s dancing along to the music and Isak can’t help but smile brightly at her. The crowd seems to be into it too, now that they’ve both loosened up. By the time they finish the song they’re laughing and almost falling off the stage together.

They find a gap in the crowd and the girl extends her hand towards him. “Eva,” she introduces herself.

“Isak.”

“I can’t believe I did that,” the girl, Eva, says.

“Me either,” Isak responds. “But you were so good. You sing, right?”

“A little. In the ensemble.” She laughs. “But I’ve never done something like that before. What about you? You must sing a lot?”

“Not when there’s people around,” Isak admits.

“One minute to midnight!” Someone near them yells.

The noise around them is starting to stress Isak out. He looks over at Eva, she looks back sheepishly.

“You probably have some friends here to celebrate with, right?” she asks.

“Er, no,” Isak says, “but I guess you had your nose buried too deep in a book to notice I was also alone.”

“Oh.” Eva brightens up considerably.

“My dad dragged me here so he could celebrate with his business partners.”

“Oh, same,” Eva says. “Or my mom did, I haven’t seen my dad in a while. Sorry, you don’t need to know that.”

Eva looks sad, and Isak gives her a watery smile. He wasn’t exactly a stranger to daddy issues. Isak thinks he should feel a lot more awkward, spending New Year’s with a virtual stranger, but he’s strangely at ease with Eva. He doesn’t think he’s ever met someone he clicked with so easily.

“It’s okay,” Isak says. It’s pretty refreshing to meet someone who just blabs out whatever they’re thinking. Isak is so used to keeping everything bottled up. “Sorry about your dad.”

Eva smiles sadly at him. Around them the countdown has started. Eva joins in at 5 so Isak starts counting down too.

“One! Happy New Year!”

There are yells and cheers all around them. Someone throws confetti into the air and it falls all over them. Isak curses internally, he knows it’s gonna be shit to get that out of his curls.

Eva doesn’t seem to be bothered by the confetti. She’s smiling happily at Isak. “Happy New Year!”

Seemingly surprising even herself she moves forward and wraps Isak in a hug. Isak is shocked for a second but she’s warm and soft and he returns the embrace.

Eva let’s go of him. “I’m gonna give you my number,” she says.

“Oh,” Isak is taken aback. Is she hitting on him? “I– uh– I’m not straight?”

“Cool, me neither.” Eva responds, before she understands his meaning. “Oh, I’m not trying to get with you. I just don’t have many friends and I like you, Isak.”

“Oh.”

Isak smiles at her and hands her his phone so she can put in her number. He puts his into hers.

“So, I guess I’ll go wish my mom a happy New Year,” Eva says.

“Right.” Isak has no intention or desire to wish his dad a happy New Year.

“I’ll text you.” She says and with that she has turned around and vanished into the crowd.

 

* * *

 

Isak is being led around his new school by the principal, who’s been fawning over his transcripts and his grades for the last ten minutes. It’s a bit annoying actually, he seems too invested in Isak. Not that Isak is bothered by expectations being placed on him, but he works hard in school for himself, not so some principal can congratulate himself for having smart students.

The bell ringing frees Isak from having the listen to the principal any longer. He points out the classroom Isak needs and walks away. Isak walks in slowly and takes a seat at the back of the room, near the window.

Isak looks around the room. People have slowly started filtering in. A deep laugh grabs his attention and Isak’s eyes land on a tall, slim boy in a faded jean jacket. His dark blond hair is styled in a ridiculous quiff and he seems to be laughing at something a perky blonde girl said.

The boy’s eyes drift over to Isak and he seems momentarily stunned. His face is blank but his eyes keep looking at Isak intently as he crosses the room and takes a seat. He finally drags his eyes away and focuses on the blond girl again, who’s been talking to him the entire time.

Isak’s heart is beating unsteadily in his chest. He’s still staring at the boy. He’s frowning now, staring at the blonde girl. Isak looks over at her. She looks unhappy. He follows her gaze and sees a guy with dark curls laughing brightly at a girl with long red hair.

Hang on. Is that Eva? In that second, the teacher walks in and everyone sits down. Maybe-Eva has got her face turned away from Isak. He fumbles in his backpack, looking for his phone. When he finds it he quickly pulls up Eva’s number and dials.

A tune rings through the entire classroom. Shit. He didn’t expect Eva to have her sound on. Even more surprisingly, multiple people reach for their phones. Do they all keep their sound on? Isak is baffled.

“Ah, the cell phone menace has returned to our crucible of learning.”

The teacher at the front conjures up a small bucket as if by magic and starts walking around the room looking for people with their phones out.

“Vilde. Even. Cell phones, please.”

The tall boy and the girl next to him surrender their phones to her bucket.

“I will see you in detention.”

She walks over to maybe-Eva who is still looking at what Isak presumes is his name on her screen.

“Miss Mohn, I see your phone is involved. I will see you in detention as well.”

Eva surrenders her phone and the teacher makes her way over to Isak, who only know realizes he’s been so enraptured in the scene unfolding around him, he forgot to put his phone away.

“Mister Valtersen, welcome to East High. We have zero tolerance for cell phones in class, so we will get to know each other in detention.”

Eva is staring at him now, she seems shocked to see him here. Isak smiles at her a little awkwardly, feeling bad that he just got her in trouble. Eva smiles back. The teacher has headed back to the front of the class and is demanding everyone’s attention, so Eva turns around again.

“Ok, glad we’ve dealt with that. The holidays are over people. Don’t forget to check the sign-up sheets for our winter musicale. Auditions are this week. Anyone got any questions?”

The boy in front of Isak raises his hand.

“Yes, Julian?”

“How were your holidays, Ms Darbus?”

The class lets out a collective groan as half of the students turn to glare at Julian.

The bell rings again, signaling the end of homeroom. Everyone gets up quickly and heads out the door. Isak follows suit. When he walks through the doorway, he’s accosted immediately by Eva.

“Hey!”

She’s practically screaming. A lot of heads turn around to stare at them, including the curly-haired boy Eva was talking to earlier. He looks a bit upset.

“Hi, Eva.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I had to move in with my dad and he lives here.”

Eva doesn’t ask him to elaborate and he’s grateful. Telling people your mom’s mental health deteriorated so much your dad decided to put her into a mental health care home isn’t exactly something you can shoehorn into a casual conversation. At least his dad chose one near here so he can still go visit his mom.

It’s a bit of a weight of his shoulders not having to take care of her by himself anymore. His dad has apologized so many times for leaving him to deal with that. He’s close to forgiving him now. It might have taken him a year to realize what he did was really bad parenting, but he’s really trying now. Isak doesn’t want to dwell on the past.

“You know I looked for you at the hotel.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Isak says. “My dad and I had to leave pretty early the next day.”

“I can’t believe you’re here, that is so great.”

Isak smiles at her widely. It hasn’t entirely sunken in yet that Eva is here at his new school. He’s already got a friend. In some ways that means he’s already doing better here than at his last school.

They’ve been walking along – aimlessly, if you’d ask Isak, because he doesn’t know his way around yet – but Eva startles when she sees the sign-up sheet for the musical.

“Aren’t you signing up?” Isak asks her.

Before she can answer Vilde pops up from behind the sign.

“Of course she’s signing up. For the chorus. Right, Eva?”

Eva looks like a deer caught in headlights which convinces Isak she was so startled by the sign-up sheet because she’s thinking of audition for the lead.

“I– uhm,” she stammers.

“There’s no need to be nervous, you’ll make it. And it’s not like people in the chorus get noticed.”

Vilde laughs and turns around to sign up, writing her name so big it takes up half the page.

When she turns around she looks over Isak’s shoulder at someone and yells.

“Jonas! You’ve got to sign up this year. We always need more people to fill the supporting roles. And looks like yours belong on stage.”

Isak has turned around to look and finds that Jonas is the boy Eva had been talking to in class. Jonas’ gaze flicks to Eva and then to Isak. It looks like he’s forcing himself to keep his expression neutral.

“I don’t think so,” he says and walks on.

“Wait up!” Vilde yells and darts off after him.

“Why does she have to be so hot,” Eva mutters under her breath. “I wouldn’t get so flustered around her if she wasn’t so hot.”

“What?” Isak exclaims, wondering if he heard her right.

“What what?” Eva retorts, regaining her usual composure. “You can hate people and still think they’re hot.”

“Hmm,” Isak says, thinking back to Chris from his previous school, “I guess that’s true.”

“She’s right though, I’m fine in the chorus.”

Eva moves forward and signs up to audition for the supporting roles.

“Are you sure?” Isak asks. “I bet you’d be great.”

“I’d probably get a severe case of stage fright and ruin the whole thing.”

Isak looks at her unsurely.

“It’s fine, Isak.”

The bell rings again.

“I have to head to chemistry,” Isak says.

“Labs are that way.” Eva points out the right hallway. “I’m heading in the other direction. See you later.”

 

* * *

 

When Isak walks into chemistry he sees Jonas already sitting at a lab table.

“Hey,” Isak says, approaching him, “you’re Eva’s friend, right?”

Jonas looks up at him, his face blank.

“My name’s Isak.” Isak smiles at him weakly.

“Jonas,” he says, face still expressionless.

“So, not to be rude,” Isak knows he’s about to be rude anyway, “but do you ever like do anything with you face?”

“What?” Jonas says, frowning.

“Wow, an actual expression.”

“Sorry,” Jonas says.

“No problem. Can I sit?”

Jonas nods. “I didn’t know Eva was seeing someone,” he says, voice flat.

“That’s pretty heteronormative, dude,” Isak replies.

“What?” Jonas looks confused.

“I’m gay.”

“Oh!” His entire face lights up. “That’s great!”

Isak can’t help but laugh. He wonders how long this guy has been pining for Eva, and he kind of wants to find out if she likes him back. “Glad you approve.”

Isak sits down next to Jonas and turns his attention to the teacher. The first thing he notices is that she’s not wearing a bra, which Isak thinks should probably be against some kind of dress code. The next is that she’s made a mistake in one of the equations she’s written on the blackboard.

“That should be sixteen over pi.”

It’s not Isak who spoke up but a girl sitting on his other side.

“Yes, Miss Bakkoush?” The teacher asks.

“The second equation should read sixteen over pi.”

“Sixteen over pi? That's quite impossible…”

She looks over her notes. “I stand corrected.”

Isak looks over at the girl who corrected the teacher. He really needs someone to help him catch up to this school’s curriculum.

“Nicely spotted,” Isak says.

“Thanks.” She grins.

“I’m Isak.”

“Sana.”

“Any chance you’re willing to help me catch up to this school’s curriculum, Sana?” Isak grins.

She gives him a once over. “What’s in it for me?”

“Erm…”

“I’m joking, Isak. I’d love to help you.”

“Great.”

“We can start today after sch–”  

“Ah, I’ve got detention today.” Isak interrupts.

“Tomorrow then. I’ll meet you in the entrance hall after last period.”

 

* * *

 

Detention involves painting set pieces for the school musical, which Isak finds a bizarre form of punishment. It’s better than having to sit doing nothing for an hour, but he also had teachers who let them do their homework which might have been a better way to spend his time.

Jonas and Eva are painting some kind of tree together and Isak decided to let them be. He steals glances at them from time to time and more often than not Eva is laughing at something Jonas has just said instead of actually painting. Isak is painting some kind of weird cloud thing when he’s suddenly interrupted by a deep voice.  

“Hello.”

Isak looks up, his eyes landing on a pair of beautiful blue eyes. They belong to the boy from his homeroom and Isak might stare at them a second too long before replying.

“Hello.”

“You’re new, right? My name’s Even.”

“Isak.”

“So, Isak, are you going to sign up for the musical?”

“I wasn’t planning on it, no.”

“Oh.” Even’s face falls. “I think you should reconsider.”

“Why?”

Isak’s attention has been drawn to Even’s lips. They looks deliciously soft and plump. It should be illegal for lips to look that kissable.

Even shrugs. “So you can spend time with me. My sister and I usually get the leads.”

Even’s trying to come across as self-confident but he’s blushing and staring at the floor and it’s beyond endearing. It’s getting pretty tempting to actually sign up for the musical. But he can’t just decide on that because a cute boy is flirting with him. At least, Isak hopes he’s flirting.

“Your sister?” Isak inquires.

“Step sister, technically. But our parents got married over ten years ago.”

Isak’s wondering if he’s talking about Vilde when she appears at Even’s side.

“Are you trying to get a new recruit?” she asks.

For a split second, Even looks annoyed with her for interrupting them. Then he puts a smile onto his face.

“Yes, I think he’s about to cave.”

Isak wants to protest that he most definitely wasn’t going to cave.

“Great, in the meantime make sure he doesn’t mess up our decor.”

Vilde is scrunching up her nose and scowling at Isak who’s been dripping paint onto the floor and his shoes. She leaves them alone again and Isak feels a blush rise to his cheeks. Leave it to him to drip paint everywhere.

“I wasn't going to cave,” he says, trying to save face.

“Hmm, guess we’ll have to see about that.”

And then Even winks at him. Except both his eyes close, so it’s kind of a failed wink. It looks adorable. He’s smiling brightly at Isak and Isak can feel his heart pick up speed a little. He’s not used to being so openly flirted with and he’s not sure how to respond. He’s not completely sure Even isn’t messing with him. Isak decides to change the subject.

“Let’s just finish this stupid cloud first so that your sister doesn’t murder us both.”

 

* * *

 

Isak’s a little surprised this is only his second day at East High. Somehow he already feels more comfortable here than at his old school. He also slept remarkably well, images of blue eyes and floppy dark blond hair always somewhere at the edge of his dream. Isak has always liked learning, but he’s especially eager about school today because he knows he’ll probably see Even again.

Before their homeroom he sees Even and Sana in deep conversation. Isak is a little surprised. He wasn’t aware they knew each other well. He doesn’t get a chance to talk to Even, but he does smile widely at Isak.

He manages not to accost Sana during their chemistry class, but when he spots her during lunch he heads straight for her. She’s sitting with a girl with shoulder length blonde hair.

“Hi, Isak.” Sana greets him. “Have you met Noora?”

“I haven’t. It’s nice to meet you, Noora.”

Isak plops down on the bench next to Sana and turns to her immediately.  

“So you know Even?”

“Not really. He’s friends with my brother, but we don’t really run in the same circles here. Even’s more the creative type.”

“Oh.”

“Isak, you’re not going to get distracted by a boy right? Our curriculum is quite advanced. You’re going to have to work to catch up.”

“Wait, you’re gay?” Noora interrupts.

“What?”

Isak turns his attention to her. Not sure if he should be offended.

“Sorry,” Noora says. “You could be bi, or pan, or whatever. It’s just that I’m starting an LGBT club and I’d love for you to join. First meeting is today.”

“Uh, I don’t really think I’ll have time,” Isak replies.

“He’s going to spend that time with me studying,” Sana interjects.

“Yeah, I’m not sure it’s my scene anyway.”

Noora shakes her head. “Maybe it should be, Isak. Don’t limit yourself so much. I wish people would stop doing what was expected of them.”

Sana frowns. “Some of us like doing what’s expected of them. Besides, you did the same until last year.”

“Maybe you’ll be convinced to join if I can get Even to come, Isak.” She turns to Sana. “He’s pansexual, isn’t he?”

“He’s probably going to be watching all the musical auditions, Noora.”

They continue bickering for a while, but Isak stops paying attention. If Even is in fact pan he might actually be interested in Isak, instead of just playing with him. Isak finishes his lunch with a smile on his face.

 

* * *

 

Isak has been studying with Sana for over thirty minutes, but he doesn’t feel like he is learning all that much. Sana is pretty smug when Isak doesn’t know something and doesn’t believe him when he tells her he _has_ studied a subject before. On top of that she keeps smiling widely at her phone while she’s texting someone.

“Do you have somewhere you’d rather be?”

Isak is getting seriously annoyed now. Sana looks over at him, a slightly guilty expression on her face.

“No.”

It’s clearly a lie. Isak sighs.

“Look, I’m not sure this is working out all that great. Why don’t you just get me a list of the things I need to know, I’ll work on them by myself and come to you if I have questions.”

“Oh.” Sana smiles. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“And then you can meet up with whoever it is you’ve been texting.”

Sana frowns. “It’s no one. Just a friend.”

Isak rolls his eyes in disbelief. “Right. And what does ‘just a friend’ want from you?”

“He just wants to play some basketball.”

“One on one?” He teases her.

“Shut up, Isak.”

She turns her attention away from her phone and starts rummaging in her notes, producing a list of subjects.

“Here,” she says as she hands it to him. “Why don’t you start with that.”

“Thanks, Sana.” Isak feels a little bad, he didn’t mean to upset her.

“Whatever. I’m going now.”

She quickly shoves all her stuff in her bag and walks off. Isak follows suit. When he walks out of the room he checks the time on his phone. He’s not that late. The auditions might still be going on. He’s probably missed Eva, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

He makes his way to the theatre, peering inside when he gets there. Eva is nowhere in sight. Even and Vilde are on stage. Isak has to admit they’re good, although he’s not quite sure this song should be in this pitch. It definitely doesn’t suit Even’s deep voice.

Suddenly someone comes rushing in the door, running straight into him.

“Eva?” Isak asks startled. “Why are you so late?”

“Oh, I went to Noora’s LGBT club.” She’s catching her breath. “She’s such a cool person. She told us about how it took her forever to realize that what she felt for hey ex-boyfriend wasn’t actually love because he kept manipulating her feelings, and that it took getting away from him and seriously re-evaluating that relationship to realize she isn’t into men at all. It was really interesting.”

Isak is staring at her in shock. “Interesting enough to risk missing your audition?”

Eva scowls. “What are you, my mother? I didn’t think it would last that long.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Eva smiles at him fondly. They’re interrupted by Ms Darbus’ voice calling out.

“Anyone else who wants to audition?”

Eva rushes forward. “Yes, sorry Ms Darbus, I’m here.”

“Miss Mohn,” she scowls at Eva, “you’re late, single auditions are over.”

“Oh…” Eva mutters.

“The theatre waits for no one, my dear.”

Before Isak is fully aware of what he’s doing he’s stepped forward and opened his dumb mouth.

“I’ll audition with her.”

“Mister Valtersen, I didn’t expect you to show an interest in the theatre.”

Isak opens his mouth but doesn’t know what to respond.

“Alright, you can audition. We can always use a new face.” She’s smiling at Isak. It’s a little bit creepy.

Eva and Isak make their way to the stage and walk over to the piano where a girl shoves a page of sheet music into his hands.

“Thanks, Ingrid.” Eva says.

“Erm… I don’t know how to read sheet music,” Isak admits. “And I don’t know this song.”

“Of course not,” Ingrid replies. “I wrote that one for the show.”

“What’s taking so long?” Ms Darbus calls out.

“I don’t read music,” Isak answers, loud enough that she can hear them. He’s worried she won’t let them audition because of him.

“Just sing something, Mister Valtersen. But if you get cast you will have to learn the songs for the show.”

“Of course.”

Eva turns to Ingrid. “What can you play?”

“Uhm… ‘You are the music in me’?” She asks.

Eva turns to Isak. “Do you know that one?”

“Yes,” Isak replies.

“Really?” Ingrid sounds disbelieving.

“What?” Isak is mildly offended. “I have diverse music taste.”

“Just start playing, Ingrid,” Eva says and drags Isak off to the center of the stage.

It takes Isak a moment to get his bearings and Eva has already started singing by the time he realizes he’s standing there like a mute in the middle of a musical audition.

“Your harmony to the melody, it's echoing inside my head.” Isak joins in.

Eva is smiling at him and the nerves he didn’t even know he was feeling evaporate. For the rest of the song Isak just relaxes and has _fun_. It’s still weird for him to accept that singing is something he actually enjoys doing.

“Thank you,” Ms Darbus yells when they’re done. “Cast lists will be up tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

Isak is walking along the hallways in class the next day when he encounters Eva, staring at said cast list. She looked completely shell-shocked. Isak went to stand beside her and immediately spotted his name on the list.

_In the running for the leads_

_Vilde Lien Hellerud & Even Bech Næsheim. _

_Eva Kviig Mohn & Isak Valtersen _

“Leads?” Isak blurts out. “Eva, I thought you signed up for a spot in the chorus.”

“I did. I don’t know what happened.”

A girl besides them snorts. “Are you both deaf? Ms Darbus mentioned about five times a day that pairs auditions are for the leads.” She walked off without sparing them another glance.

“Well,” Isak says, “I have to admit I’ve never really paid full attention to what she’s saying.”

Eva still speechless beside him.

“Aren’t you happy though? You were just too afraid to audition for the leads. Now you’ve got an actual shot. And you deserve it.”

“I think happy comes later. Right now I’m so nervous I want to hurl,” Eva says.

Isak let’s his gaze wander back to the list and spots another familiar name. Jonas.

“Eva?” Isak asks carefully. “Did you know Jonas auditioned?”

“What?” He face contorts in confusion, and she looks back at the list. When she sees Jonas name her mouth falls open in surprise.

It’s at that very moment that Jonas stalks past them, eyes straight forward, pretending not to see either one of them. Eva jumps after him immediately, grabbing his shoulder.

“Jonas!” She screams.

He turns around, his face angry, and although he’s trying to hide it, hurt.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were auditioning?” Eva asks, her voice low.

“Well, if I’d known you were going to audition with _him_ ,” Jonas gestures in Isak’s direction, “I wouldn’t have bothered.”

“I didn’t exactly plan to audition with Isak. It kind of just happened. Besides, you’ve never shown interest in the musical before. Why did you suddenly want to join?”

Jonas face flushes, he turns his eyes to the ceiling for two seconds before fixing his gaze on Eva. “I did it to be with you.”

“Oh.” Eva seems momentarily stunned. She keeps her eyes locked on Jonas though and smiles at him. When she reaches out to grab his hand, Isak decides it’s a bit too invasive to keep staring, and he walks off to his next class, leaving them alone for a bit.

 

* * *

 

Isak is having lunch with Noora and Sana when Eva shows up at his table, Jonas in tow. She slides onto the bench next to Isak, and when Jonas sits down next to her he casually puts his arm around her. Isak can’t keep himself from smiling.

“Everyone’s been staring at me today.” Eva almost whispers.

“Of course they are,” Noora answers. “You did something unexpected, shaking  things up around here. It’s throwing everyone off.” She looks weirdly proud of Eva.

“No one’s been staring at me.” Isak interjects.

“Of course not,” Noora says, “You’re new. No one had expectations of you yet.”

“What about Jonas then?” Isak turns towards him. “Have they been staring at you?”

Jonas shrugs. “I don’t really pay attention to people gawking at me.”

“I’ve never been the center of attention before,” Eva looks a bit sad. “I’m not sure I like it.”

Jonas pulls her a bit closer and rubs his hand along her arm to comfort her. Isak’s surprised at just how at ease they are around each other since they only got together like an hour ago. Maybe he’ll never get that feeling. Maybe it’s something that comes with falling for someone you’ve known most of your life. He doesn’t like that thought so he pushes it down.

Almost as if she could sense Isak needed a distraction, Vilde pops up at their table. Her face falls for a second when she sees Jonas’ arm around Eva, but she quickly regains her composure and turns to Eva in anger.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Vilde, I’m sorry, it was kind of an accident.”

“An accident? You’re accidentally trying to steal my part?” She scoffs. “I hope you don’t expect to actually get it. Life doesn’t work that way. You can’t just mess with the status quo like that.”

Noora’s been staring at Vilde with a disapproving look on her face. “She can if she wants to. No one should be forced to stick to the box you put them in, because it’s more comfortable for you.”

Vilde doesn’t look happy at being called out like that. “You think it’s just me? It’s human nature to dislike things changing. So if people have secret desires they should just _keep_ the secret.”

“I disagree.” A guy from the table next to them interrupts them.

Vilde turns her attention to him. “It’s rude to eavesdrop, Magnus.”

“It’s hard not to when you’re talking that loudly. And I think Noora’s right. People should be more forthcoming about their lives. Like me, I–”

“Everyone knows you have a crush on me, Magnus.”

“No! Well, yes. But also, I bake.”

“You bake?” Vilde scrunches up her nose. “Riveting information.”

“Someday I hope to make the perfect creme brulee.”

Isak assumes the guy is  hoping to impress Vilde with this information. It’s clearly not working. All he’s managed to accomplish is that half the cafeteria is now looking in their direction.

A girl at the table behind Isak stands up. Her hair is put into two buns on the top of her head and she looks like she’s dying to get something of her chest.

“I love to dance!” She says. “I love to pop and lock and jam and break!”

“Is that even legal?” A skinny guy at her table whispers.

“Urgh.”

Isak’s exclamation draws the girl’s attention to him. She gives him an appreciative once over and then starts sucking suggestively on the spoon she’s holding.

Isak does his best not to grimace. If they’re sharing secrets, he’s got on to tell. Isak stands up and raises his voice.

“Hello everyone, I’m new so most of you don’t know or care about me, but I just wanted to let you all know: I’m gay!”

He sits back down without looking back at the girl. Noora is practically beaming at him.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Eva says in a low voice.

“The closet wasn’t a comfortable place for me.” Isak says. “I don’t feel like being back in it.”

He notices Vilde is staring at him with a mixture of admiration and disgust.

“You’re all the worst!” she screams and then she stalks off.

 

* * *

 

On his way out of the cafeteria Isak bumps into Even. Isak’s about to say hello when he notices Even looks upset at him. Isak averts his gaze, not liking the look in Even’s eye.

“Hello,” Even says eventually.

Isak refocuses his eyes on him. “Hello.”

“You know when I tried to get you to join the musical, I didn’t think you’d go after our parts.”

A small part of Isak’s brain registers that he says our and not my and realizes that this isn’t entirely about Even. Unfortunately, most of his brain is wired to go into defensive mode at the slightest hint of hostility.

“Your parts? I’m sorry, do you own them? Why were there auditions then?”

Even frowns. “Whatever, Isak.”

Even turns and starts walking away and the sight fills Isak with regret over his outburst.

“Even, wait!” He yells and runs a few steps to catch up with him. “I didn’t mean to audition for you part, okay! I was just trying to help out Eva. We didn’t realize pairs auditions were for the leads.”

“Okay.”

“And I know it’s not the way you wanted, but we do still get to spend time together.”

“You’re right,” Even gives Isak a watery smile, clearly still troubled by something. “See you at rehearsals, Isak.”

 

* * *

 

Halfway through the first rehearsal Isak’s about ready to drop out. Ms Darbus is making them read different scenes seeing how they play off each other and while Isak quite enjoys bringing another person to life he’s starting to doubt he’s ever going to feel entirely comfortable on a stage.

Even, of course, doesn’t seem to have an ounce of stage fright. He and Vilde play of each other well and it’s clear they’re used to performing. Eva looks a little out of place too, still overwhelmed she’s being considered for the lead.

Ms Darbus doesn’t really make any comments. She just gives Isak and Eva a song to rehearse and Vilde and Even a different one. It’s sheet music. Isak assumes he’ll just have to get Eva’s and Ingrid’s help with learning it.

Even catches up with him on his way out of the theatre.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“You were really good in there.”

Isak snorts. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

“No, you show a lot of promise. You just have to relax a little.”

“Relaxing isn’t really my strong suit.”

Even laughs. “Clearly.”

“Thanks,” Isak spits out sarcastically.

Even’s looking at him intently. “Do you have anywhere to be right now?”

“No?” Isak’s so confused it comes out sounding like a question.

“Come with me.”

Isak follows Even blindly, not knowing at all where they’re heading. It involves a bit more stairs than Isak would have liked. Eventually they come out on a small rooftop terrace that’s filled with a variety of plants and flowers. It was beautiful, though Isak would never admit it out loud.

“So this is your secret hangout?” Isak asks.

“Well, it wouldn’t even exist without you science nerds, so I wouldn’t call it mine.”

Isak just stares at Even in confusion. Even laughs in a way that makes his eyes crinkle up, it’s incredibly endearing.

“Science clubs grows these plants. Sana told me about it. Most people never come here.”

“A shame, it’s really peaceful.”

“Yeah. Let’s sit.” Even gestures towards a little bench.

Isak sits down next to Even. Despite the bench not being very wide there’s enough space so that they aren’t touching. Isak swears he could feel the body heat radiate off Even though, or maybe Isak just feels warmer when he’s around him. He can’t be sure.

Even turns toward him and the motion knocks his knee into Isak’s. Isak’s heartbeat picks up for several seconds but when it’s clear Even isn't going to break the contact it calms down and Isak looks up at Even. He’s smiling widely and Isak can’t help but answer with a smile of his own.

“Do you like it?” Even asks.

“Hmm?”

“The musical. Do you like it?”

“I’m not sure. I really like singing, didn’t expect that. And the acting is fun. It’s the being on stage in front of other people part I’m not sure about.”

Even laughs softly.

“What about you? How many musicals have you been in by now?”

“Erm– can’t recall. I started when Vilde became my step sister.It’s really more her thing.”

“Really?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like the acting and the singing and even the dancing. But I’d like to be a director.”

“And Ms Darbus won’t let you help with directing?” Isak inquires.

Even looks surprised. “I don’t know. I’ve never asked. Vilde needs me to be her partner and I love her so I’m glad to do that for her.”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Isak says. “That’s just really kind. You might be a little too nice for me.”

“Yeah?” Even raises his eyebrows at Isak. “You don’t like nice boys?”

Isak shakes his head. “That’s not it. I don’t get why they would like me.”

Even raises his hand to Isak’s face, cupping his cheek forcing Isak to look him in the eyes.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“You don’t really know me though.”

Even lets go of Isak’s face and grabs his hand instead. Isak can feel Even’s warmth spreading through his palm.

“I’d like to. Can we do that?”

Isak gives Even’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Yes, we can.”

 

* * *

 

Pretty desperate to get some practice in before he has to sing in front of the entire drama club, Isak corners Eva during lunch begging for her help.

“Sorry, Isak,” She replies. “I can’t. Noora’s having another meeting of her LGBT club. You should come!”

“I really need some help, Eva. Unlike you I don’t actually read sheet music.”

Eva looks torn for a moment and then her eyes land on someone behind Isak and she smirks.

“I don’t think you need me. Bye Isak.”

She dashes off and Isak turns around. He’s confronted Even who is grinning at him.

“I couldn’t help but overhear…”

“Sure you couldn’t,” Isak retorts.

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Are you allowed to help me?”

“Isak, I might not want you to get the part, that doesn’t mean I want you to make a fool of yourself.”

“Geez, thanks.” Isak can’t help but roll his eyes.

“I’m just going to pretend you responded with gratitude instead of derision,” Even says. “I’ll meet  you in the music room after school.”

The afternoon passes in a blur as Isak is distracted by the fact that he’ll spend more time alone with Even again. He almost runs to the music room after his last class ends and bursts in without knocking. Even isn’t there yet. But Vilde is. She’s singing some kind of love song to a weird poppy tune blasting from the speakers. It takes her a moment to notice Isak, but when she does she stops singing and turns of the music.

“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be here,” Isak says.

“I’m here almost every day. Everyone knows that.”

“Right, I’ll go then.”

Isak turns around and heads back to the door.

“Isak, wait.”

Isak turns around again. Vilde looks like she already regrets calling him back. There’s a light blush spread across her cheeks.

“Yes?”

Vilde is avoiding looking at him directly. “How are you so sure?”

Isak frowns in confusion. “Sure about what?”

“That you’re gay.”

The words are almost a whisper. Vilde still won’t look at him.

“Well, I like boys. I don’t like girls.”

“Right.” Vilde doesn’t seem entirely satisfied with Isak’s answer.

“Why don’t you ask Even about this?”

Vilde shrugs. “He likes everyone.”

Isak thinks he gets it now. “And you don’t think you do?”

Vilde shakes her head softly. “I thought I liked boys. But I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Why is that?”

“I always got so jealous when I saw Eva with Jonas. I used to think, you know, I liked him.”

Isak never thought he’d feel for Vilde. She’s usually so rude to everyone, especially Eva. But he gets it now. He can’t pretend he was never needlessly cruel to a guy he liked before he accepted himself. Not that that’s a good way to express the confusion they make you feel. He’s not really sure how to help her though.

“I think…” Isak can’t think of what to say. “I’m sorry, Vilde. I don’t think I’m the best person to help you with this.”

Vilde finally looks at him and opens her mouth to speak when the door opens and Even comes walking in. Vilde only looks startled for a second before she’s smiling at Even.

“Have you decided to join me for practice for once?”

Even’s cheeks turn red and he looks down in shame.

“Erm, actually…”

“You’re here to help Isak? Really, Even?”

Even just smiles at her sheepishly.

“You’re pathetic.” She turns to Isak. “He’s been talking about you non stop.”

Isak is a bit weirded out seeing how they interact with each other. It’s also a bit scary how quickly Vilde put on her usual bravado again. Which are two things he thinks about before he registers exactly what Vilde said. Then he turns to Even.

“You talk about me?”

“Thanks for exposing me, Vilde.”

“Sorry.” She grins. “That’s what you get for helping him try and steal our parts.”

She smiles at Even and heads out of the room without another word. Isak’s eyes follow her but when the door shuts behind her he turns his attention back on Even.

“Ok so clearly I’ve been desperate to spend more time with you,” Even says.

“You’re not even a little bit ashamed of that?”

“No.”

Even is just smiling widely at Isak whose heart is beating dangerously fast right now. Even takes a step closer to him and Isak freaks out and lets his gaze fall to the ground.

“Too desperate?” Even asks quietly.

Isak shakes his head. “Sorry, I’m not really used to this.”

“To what?”

“Someone liking me back.” Isak whispers. “I’m gonna mess it up.”

He looks back up at Even who is smiling softly.

“You’re doing fine so far.”

“It’s so confusing.”

“What exactly?”

“Well part of me just want to shove you against a wall and kiss you until my lips go numb.” He looks over at Even who swallows visibly.  Isak sighs. “That feeling is familiar. But I also just wanna sit here and listen to you talk for hours. That’s new.”

Even is practically beaming at Isak. “You’ve never liked someone before.”

Isak feels a blush rise to his cheeks.

“Careful, Isak. You’re already turning incredibly soft.”

“Shut up.”

Even inches closer to Isak, and grabs his hand. He’s smiling at Isak.

“Let’s work up to the first part.” Even says. “As for the talking I’d love to do that, but I thought we came here to help you learn a song.”

“You distracted me!” Isak exclaims.

“Sorry.” Even grins at Isak, not looking sorry at all. “I’m guessing you don’t play the piano?”

“Of course not. Wait, do you?”

Even shrugs casually. “I’m alright.”

Even sits down at the piano as Isak takes the sheet music out of his backpack and hands it to Even. Even motions for him to sit down next to him so Isak does.

“Alright let’s try this.”

Even starts playing the song. It seems to Isak that he’s better than alright at playing the piano. Even starts singing and Isak gets so lost in the way his voice sounds he’s not paying  attention to the words at all. Suddenly his voice gets really high and Isak bursts out laughing.

“What?” Even laughs. “You don’t want me to sing Eva’s part?”

“Let’s just stick to you teaching me my part. Or we’ll be here forever.”

“I’m guessing it’s too soon to joke that I wouldn’t mind being with you forever.”

Isak feels his face flush red again. He averts his gaze and nods slightly. But there’s a warmth spreading in his chest and a smile across his face.

 

* * *

 

Even finds him in the hallways before rehearsals the next day.

“I asked Ms Darbus if I can help her with directing.”

“Really? What did she say?”

“She said she’d love my help…”

“That’s great!”

“But she doesn’t think it would be combinable with the lead.”

“Oh.” Isak face falls. “Well, you’re allowed to go for what you want.”

Even shakes his head. “This isn’t as important to me as getting the lead is to Vilde.”

Isak scowls at Even.

“It’s okay.”

Even gives Isak a watery smile but he still looks sad. Isak can’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around Even and pulling him in a tight hug. Even leans into it immediately, holding Isak close against him. Isak can feel Even’s heart beating against his own. He could stand here for hours, just holding Even and behind held, but they get interrupted.

“Hello, boys.” Eva’s voice rings through the hallway.

Isak reluctantly lets go of Even and looks around to see her standing there, hand firmly clasped in Jonas’.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we’re going to be late.” She gestures towards the theatre.

Isak nods and follows her and jonas into the room, Even trailing behind him.

Eva immediately walks up to a group of girls and starts talking animatedly to Chris. Isak’s starting to feel a bit nervous, knowing he’ll have to sing again very soon. He didn’t actually get to practice with Eva because she was so busy.

It’s like no time at all before Isak and Eva are called up. Even gives Isak an encouraging smile. Isak thinks he does pretty well but it’s clear he and Eva didn’t practice together. Ms Darbus tells them they need to work on it a lot more.

Vilde and Even are up next. They’re both great and they play off each other really well, but Isak doesn’t think the tune suits the lyrics. He sees Eva talking to Ingrid, who looks a little angry. This probably isn’t how she originally composed the song.

Ms Darbus ends the rehearsal by telling Isak and Eva they really need to stop it up or Even and Vilde will get the leads. Eva barely looks bothered. She heads over to Jonas and they walk out together laughing.

“Can I walk you home?”

Even has suddenly appeared at his side and Isak nods. They head out of the school together. The walk to Isak’s house isn’t very long. Even talks about how he’s wanted to be director since the first time he saw Romeo and Juliet performed when he was little. Isak admits he’s not really sure yet what he wants to do. When they say goodbye at Isak’s door, Even presses a kiss to Isak’s cheeks. Isak can still feel his skin tingle where Even’s lips touched it when the door falls shut behind him.

 

* * *

 

“So, have you entirely given up on catching up on the curriculum?” Sana asks him during their chemistry class.

Isak feels that’s a little unfair. He has actually been going through the subject Sana gave him.

“No, I haven’t. I do have some questions actually.”

“Great.” Sana says. “Study session after school then?”

“Sure.”

They head into cafeteria together after class and get in line for food.

“Why is Noora sitting with Vilde?” Sana asks.

Isak turns around and sees them alone at a table together, seemingly talking in hushed tones. Vilde looks a little wistful. Isak thinks he knows that they’re talking about and is a little surprised Vilde took his advice to heart so quickly.

“Why, is that weird?”

Sana scowls. “They aren’t exactly friends.”

When they get their lunch Sana starts heading straight for their table but Isak stops her.

“I don’t think we should disturb them.”

“Why?” Sana looks suspicious. “What do you know?”

Isak shakes his head. “Sorry, can’t tell you.”

Sana frowns. “I always have lunch with Noora.”

“Just come sit with me.”

Isak gestures his head toward a table where Eva is already beckoning them over. They take their seats and Eva immediately turns to Sana.

“You know I’ve always meant to ask you, how do you keep your lipstick so perfect all day?”

“I don’t go around kissing people all over the school.”

Isak’s eyes widen at her rude reply and he’s worried Eva’s going to be offended but instead she just laughs.

“Fair point.”

Sana laughs too and Sana and Eva quickly get lost in conversation. Isak keeps glancing over at Noora and Vilde, wondering how their conversation is going. He’s surprised he actually cares about Vilde. He wishes Eva and Even getting what they want didn’t mean she can’t get what she wants.

He keeps thinking about it all day. He tells Eva he can’t practice with her because he’s studying with Sana. She doesn’t seem upset at all, says she has made plan to hang out with Jonas after school anyway. He’s beginning to wonder if she cares about the musical at all.

It’s still bothering him when he’s studying with Sana, and she can tell he’s distracted.

“What’s wrong, Isak? Can’t stop thinking about Even?”

“What? No. Well, yes, but not just him.”

“What is this about then?”

“How well do you know Vilde?” Isak asks her.

Sana shrugs. “We’ve known each other since elementary school, but we’ve never been that close.”

“How important is this musical to her?”

“Are you kidding?” Sana looks baffled. “Isak, you’ve met her, haven’t you?”

“Right, sorry.”

Sana sighs. “It’s her dream Isak, and she works really hard for it. I have to admire that, even though I don’t get the musical theatre thing.”

“And Eva?”

Sana purses her lips. “I mean, I can’t read her mind, but she doesn’t seem to care that much. Don’t tell her, but I think Vilde deserves it more.”

Isak gives a small nod. There’s an idea forming in his head, but he has to talk to Eva before he puts it into action.

“Can you pay attention now?” Sana asks mildly exasperated.

“Yes, sorry. Teach me all you know.”

Sana rolls her eyes at him and they turn their attention back to their books.

 

* * *

 

Isak looks Eva during free period next day but he can’t seem to find her. He spots Noora and asks if she’s seen her.

“I saw her go into that classroom.” Noora says as she points it out.

Isak heads for the room and when he opens the door he’s confronted with Eva sitting on a desk, Jonas between her legs, their arms wrapped firmly around each other.

He caught them in the midst of a heavy makeout and is about to stumble back out the door when they pull apart and turn their attention on him.

“Sorry for interrupting,” Isak says, “but I kind of need to talk to Eva.”

“Now?” Eva asks.

“What were you gonna do fuck in classroom?”

Eva is about to retort but Jonas stops her.

“It’s fine, Isak.” He gives Eva a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll see you later.”

Jonas gives Isak a smile as he walks past him and heads out of the room.

“So, what’s up?” Eva hops off the desk and straightens her clothes a bit.

Isak knows he’s going to sound rude no matter how he phrases it so he just spits it out.

“How badly do you want this lead role?”

Eva looks surprised but not offended. “Honestly?”

Isak nods.

“Not as much as I thought I would.”

“I thought so.”

“I feel a bit stupid,” Eva whispers.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a lot of friends,” Eva admits. “Or at least, I didn’t. Part of me that if I got the lead people would think I’m interesting enough to be friend with.”

“That’s not stupid.”

“Maybe. But even thinking that I was still afraid to try out. But it turned out to be a lot less scary than I thought it would be.”

“You were great.”

“I’ve just been undervaluing myself for too long.”

Isak snorts.

“What?”

“That sounds like Jonas’ words not yours.”

Eva blushes. “He has been telling me that yes.”

“Glad to hear he’s good for you confidence.”

“He is.” She pauses. “I don’t want to be one of those girls whose self-confidence issues disappear just because she has a boyfriend though.”

Isak frowns. “I don’t think you are. Maybe he just made you a little braver.”

“That’s still because of him then.”

Isak shakes his head. “It’s much easier to put yourself out there when you know someone’s gonna be there for you if it goes badly.”

Eva smiles softly. “Why were you asking about the lead?”

“Well, I don’t want to step on your toes, but I think Vilde wants it more than you.”

Eva smirks. “I don’t think it’s possible for me to want something as much as Vilde wants the lead.” She sighs. “That’s part of the reason I didn’t sign up for it in the first place. But then once we got it, I figured I don’t owe her anything. She’s never been very nice to me.”

Isak knows why of course, but he can’t tell Eva Vilde’s secret. “But Even doesn’t want it, he’d rather direct.”

Eva seems to realize what he’s getting at. “You want to audition with Vilde.”

Isak shrugs.

“Isak…” Eva says. “I’m happy to give it up, but it seems like you’re trying to make everyone else happy. What do you want?”

Isak averts his gaze for a second. “I’m gonna kill you if you tell anyone this, but I think I’m a drama geek deep down.”

Eva laugh out loud.

“It’s not funny!”

“Kinda is.”

“Stop laughing!”

Eva obliges. “I’ve just got one thing to ask you.”

“What?”

“Make Vilde do the songs like Ingrid wrote them. She’s been really down about that.”

“I’ll try.”

 

* * *

 

Even is waiting for him when school ends. Isak’s heart does a little flip when he sees him hanging against the lockers.

“Hey.” Even says.

“Hey.”

“Mind if I walk you home?”

Isak shakes his head. “I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

Even smiles brightly.

They start heading for Isak’s house together.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

Isak takes a deep breath. “What would you say if I tried out for the leads with Vilde?”

“What?”

“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”

“What about Eva?”

“I’ve talked to her, she’s cool with it.”

“Why would you do that?” Even looks amazed.

“I just thought, it would free you up to do directing. And Vilde can still get the lead. It’s the best way to make everyone happy.”

They’ve made it to Isak’s door.

“You’re amazing,” Even says.

Isak blushes. He wonders if Even is gonna kiss him on the cheek again. Even is looking at him like he knows exactly what Isak is thinking. Instead of leaning in he grabs Isak’s hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles.

“What are you doing?” Isak asks.

Even laughs. “I’m wooing you.”

Isak rolls his eyes. “You are so weird.”

Even smiles at him, he gives Isak’s hand a gentle squeeze and then lets go.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Isak.”

“Bye.”

Isak watches Even walk away until he has disappeared from view. If he couldn’t clearly feel his heart beating loudly in his chest, Isak would think that Even had taken it with him.

 

* * *

 

Isak makes his way to the music room after school the next day. Even told him over lunch that Vilde was willing to give this a shot. Isak asked Ingrid to come, and she’d reluctantly agreed. Isak really wants to get this right, and he wants to try it out for Ms Darbus tomorrow.

When he gets to the room Even and Vilde are already waiting for him. He shares a smile with Even.

“Finally, we’ve got a lot of work to do if you’re going to learn our song by tomorrow!” Vilde sounds exasperated.

“Erm, Vilde? I don’t think I can learn a new song by tomorrow.” Isak admits.

“I think I was hoping you’d do the song he already knows,” Even interjects. “Since you can read sheet music and he can’t.”

Vilde turns towards Even. Isak notices her voice sounds much softer when she’s talking to him.

“But I haven’t made our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement for that yet.”

“You know, Vilde, I think we should try it as written.”

Vilde frowns. “It’s just not my usual style.”

“Vilde,” Isak starts carefully, “you’re very talented. I don’t think you need all this… showmanship.”

Isak glances over at Even who is looking at him in wonder and smiling softly.

“Okay,” Vilde says. “We can try it.”

Ingrid arrives at that very moment looking a little apprehensive. Vilde is friendly in her welcome though, and Isak is starting to think this might actually work out.

Ingrid sits down at the piano and hands Isak and Vilde the sheet music. It’s still gibberish to Isak, but luckily he knows this song. Ingrid starts playing and Isak starts to sing.

“ _We're soaring, flying, there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach._ ”

“ _If we're trying',_ ” Vilde joins in, “ _so we're breaking free._ ”

Their voices sound surprisingly well together and Isak’s feeling more confident as the song progresses. It looks like Vilde is trying hard not to smile. She turns to Ingrid when they’ve finished the song.

“This is a really good song, Ingrid. It’s so beautiful.”

Ingrid looks shocked.

“Thanks,” she blurts out.

Vilde smiles at Ingrid and to Isak’s surprise Ingrid smiles back.

They practice the song a couple more times. Vilde gives Isak notes every time but after a while she’s starting to look pleased with his performance. Isak keeps stealing glances at Even, who looks proud but also starts to look more agitated as time goes on.

“I think Isak needs a break,” Even says after the fifth time they’ve sung the song. “He needs to use the bathroom, and I need to go with him.”

Isak is looking at Even with a confused smile on his face, but Even just grabs his hand and drags him out of the room. He pushes him through the first door they come across, into what is in fact a bathroom. Isak doesn’t even have time to ask what’s going before Even has him pushes up against a wall. Even’s really close, his forehead resting against Isak’s.

“I really wanna kiss you. Can I?” Even asks.

Isak’s throat suddenly feels dry. He swallows and then nods.

Even doesn’t waste another second before he presses his lips to Isak’s. Isak’s never really believed kissing is better when you’re kissing the right person, but damn him if this isn’t the best kiss he’s ever had. It’s gentle and intense all at once. Isak’s hands find their way to Even’s hair, and Even groans and deepens the kiss. His hands find their way to Isak’s hips, thumbs slipping under Isak’s shirt and touching bare skin. He inches closer, pressing his entire body against Isak’s.

It’s too much and not enough. Isak doesn’t think he can handle much more right now. He’s heart’s hammering in his chest. There’s a really tiny part of his brain that’s hoping this experience doesn’t give him an unfortunate kink for bathrooms. The rest of him is just consumed with Even.

Even pulls away eventually.

“We should head back.”

Isak wants to protest but Even is probably right, and they’ll have plenty of time for kisses in the future. He just nods reluctantly. Even apparently finds that endearing because he presses two quick pecks to Isak’s lips before pulling away entirely. Before Isak can miss him too much, Even has grabbed his hand and they walk back to the music room together.

When they walk back in Vilde and Ingrid are sitting close together on the piano bench, lips locked together. They jump apart when they hear Isak and Even enter. There’s a second where Isak wonders why the students here can’t control themselves. Why does he keep walking in on people kissing everywhere? Then he remembers he had Even’s tongue down his throat in the school bathroom two minutes ago. Clearly, it’s not people kissing that’s the problem. It’s Isak’s horrible timing.

He looks over at Even who is staring wide-eyed at Vilde. Isak follows his gaze. Vilde just looks like she has no idea what to say. Ingrid is sitting next to her, looking like she’d like to run out of the room.

“Okay,” Isak says, breaking the silence, “I think we should rehearse a few more times so we really got it down but I think this went well.”

Everyone seems happy to follow his lead and ignore what just happened. Vilde gets up from the piano bench and comes to stand next to Isak. Even sits back down to watch them.

When they’ve practiced the song three more times and they’ve pretty much got it down flawless Isak’s had enough. The tension in the room seems to have dissipated when they were singing but Isak can practically feel Vilde start shaking again now that they’re done. He turns towards Even.

“Are you walking me home?”

“Sure.” Even replies.

Isak turns towards Vilde who gives him a grateful smile. Ingrid just quickly packs up her things, says goodbye and walks out. The three of them walk out together. Isak and Even say goodbye to Vilde when they get outside and darts of as fast as she can.

Isak and Even walk along in slightly uncomfortable silence for a while until Even apparently can’t take it anymore.

“You knew about this;” He says quietly.

Isak just purses his lips.

“You can’t tell me;” Even says. ‘Well, it was nice of you to protect her.”

Isak looks up at Even who is smiling at him. He smiles back.

“I’m sure she’ll talk to you when she’s ready,” Isak says.

Even nods.

They’ve made it to Isak’s house again. Isak turns to Even and pulls him down into a slow kiss. He smiles when they pull apart.

“See you tomorrow.”

This time Even waits for Isak to walk inside. Isak turns back to look at him before closing the door. Even is stroking his thumb along his lips like he can still feels Isak’s on them. When he sees Isak staring he blows him a kiss and then he walks away.

 

* * *

 

Isak’s not nervous at all the next day when they sing in front of Ms Darbus. Even is looking at him the entire time, smiling encouragingly.

He and Vilde sound great together. She really has a fantastic voice. She looks somehow calmer than he’s seen her before when she’s performing.

When they finish the song the entire drama club starts clapping. Vilde looks ecstatic. She shares a smile with Ingrid. Isak looks at Even who winks at him.

“Quiet down!” Ms Darbus yells. “I think we’ve found our leads. Miss Mohn, you will play The Incredible Mrs. Schain. Even, you’ll be Johnny Omni. Get in touch with me about the directing. That’s it for today, people. I’ll see you all after the weekend.”

Eva pops up next to Isak, Jonas and Chris in tow.

“That was great. We’re going to go out for a bite. Do you and Even want to come?” She asks.

“Sure.”

Eva turns to Vilde. “You’re welcome too, Vilde.”

Vilde smiles. “Thanks, Eva. I’d love to come.”

Eva invites Ingrid as well. They’re all sitting down at table stuffing down greasy hamburgers and laughing. As Isak looks around at everyone he thinks that this is probably the happiest he’s ever been.

 

* * *

 

**_5 weeks later_ **

Isak’s back is pressed against a bathroom stall door, Even’s lips pressed to his neck. His skin is flushed and they’ve been doing this so much lately Isak’s fairly sure his fear of developing a bathroom kink is slowly coming to pass.

“Even.” He tries to keeps his voice steady but it comes out sounding like a moan.

“Hmm?”

Isak has to collect all his willpower but he pushes Even away.

“We have to go. We promised Vilde we’d be there.”

Even sighs. “Yeah, you’re right.”

He grabs Isak’s hand as the walk out of the bathroom. Isak heart still somersaults whenever Even holds his hand. He thought he’d be used to it by now.

They walk into the room together. Noora, Eva and Ingrid – and, to Isak’s surprise, Magnus – are already there, talking animatedly amongst themselves. Even and Isak sit down next to each other.

Vilde walks in and takes a seat next to Even. No one reacts because they’re used to her being here now. But Isak and Even know today is different.

Noora clears her throat and everyone falls silent.

“Welcome everyone. I started this group for everyone at this school who isn’t straight and cis, or thinks they might not be. And even though we’re still a pretty small group there’s some new faces and that makes me really happy. You can talk here without judgment and we’re here to listen. Anyone want the floor?”

Vilde raises her hand.

“I do.”

Even gives her a reassuring smile and Vilde stands up.

“As you all know my name is Vilde. It’s taken me awhile to figure things out but I’m sure now. I’m a lesbian.”

“Welcome to the club,” Noora says.

Vilde smiles at her. “I’ve got one more thing to say.” She turns to Ingrid. “Would you like to go out with me sometime?”

Ingrid can’t help a smile from spreading across her face. “I’d love to.”

Eva whoops and Noora claps her hands.

The meeting continues with Magnus admitting he’s not quite sure yet what he is and they all reassure him that he’s welcome while he figures it out. They all share some of their experiences with him. The meeting ends with Noora talking about her last date where she took a girl out for a drive and drank hot cocoa on the top of a hill. It’s something she did with her ex-boyfriend. She tells them she’s determined to replace every memory she has of him, with one of her and a girl. Everyone laughs at that.

They all scramble after the meeting and rush towards the theatre. They say goodbye to Noora and Magnus at the door as the rest of them head backstage. They quickly change into their outfits and fix their makeup.

As he’s waiting to enter the stage, Isak suddenly feels nervous. He hadn’t seen it coming since he hasn’t been nervous during rehearsals in a long time. Even is standing next to him and it’s like he can sense the stress coming of Isak in waves.

“Relax.”

“Urgh, that doesn’t help.”

“Try to think of something else.”

“What are you going to do after the show?”

Isak shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Even smiles at him. “Why don’t you come home with me?” He asks. “And we can finish what we started in the bathroom.”

Even raises his eyebrows and smirks at Isak. Isak’s throat runs dry. He’s not quite sure if that got rid of his nerves but he’s definitely not worrying about his performance anymore.

In the theatre the audience falls silent, the lights go on on stage.

“Break a leg.” Even whispers in Isak’s ear.

The music starts playing. Isak takes a deep breath.

He steps forward.

  



End file.
